Pacific Terror
by C.R. Richardson
Summary: This fic starts near the end of Eagle Strike. Sabina never leaves for America, instead she is taken to MI6 for a briefing and then they try to recruit her.
1. Recruitment

_Hey there, I'm C.R. Richardson your author for this fic!_

_Um, so this is a small fic that I just whipped up today. It starts at the end of Eagle Strike (well near the end anyways.) This starts a few days after they (Sabina and Alex) get back from saving the world from Damian Cray. I found I was disatissfied with how Anthony Horowitz ended it with Sabina going to America to live and so in my fic she stays in London. This chapter is all about setting the scene and explaining what has just happened and then MI6 trying to recruit Sabina (hence the title...)._

_This fic is probably a bit ooc but I hope you enjoy it!_

_Anways, I understand that these books come out some time ago and so there may not be as much of a fandom for them, so just let me know if you think I should continue or stop and not write anymore for this fic..._

_Which means I would love it if you could please read and review! Even if it is anonymously, it would mean a lot to me! Whether is is critics or compliments I would love to know your thoughts :)_

_Lastly, at the moment I don't have a beta, which means I edited this myself and again I just typed it up in a couple of hours so I apologise for any mistakes that I may have missed or any facts that I may have gotten wrong. It has been a few years since I read the Alex Rider books, but I did really like them (obviously otherwise I wouldn't be writing this fic!)_

_I think that is all I wanted to ramble on about,_

_Enjoy reading,_

_Thank you!_

_C.R. Richardson xx_

_(**Disclaimer**: I don't own any of the characters (unless they are OC) or the plot of this chapter, if I did it would have never made it on a best seller list :P)_

* * *

><p>Back and forth, back and forth.<p>

Sabina Pleasure was confined to a small room. The stark, white walls were bare, a bed lay pressed to one of the walls, a desk sat opposite, and behind a screen was a small toilet. But she knew it wasn't a room it was a prison.

Sabina had been pacing the room for about an hour now, and had realised it was exactly ten steps from one wall to the other. Upon arriving at the building she had been taken through countless security checks, had her handbag and cellphone taking off her then marched down a long corridoor and placed in this room.

Outside her house she had been picked up my men in suits, they had badges and seemed official. Although Sabina was hesitant to get in the car with them, Alex had mentioned just after the 'incident' that some government officials would probably call in on her. The black tinted car meant that no one could see her from the outside which made her more than a little nervous.

No one in the car talked to her, or each other. The short trip was a silent one. When arriving at the tall building she finally asked what was going on, but her question was received with blank stares. Flanked by two men in suits, she was ushered to the security check points.

Back and forth she paced.

This mundane task was the only thing to do in the boring prison she had been placed in. After the Damian Cray 'incident', of course she was a little on edge, however, this felt different. This felt less like a kidnapping and more professional. That didn't make her worry less though.

Back and forth, back and forth.

She played with her long brown hair as she paced, her long fingers dragged through the knots.

Back and forth, back and forth.

She counted to 100 in her head. Then counted again. What else was there to do?

Back and forth, back and forth.

She thought about what she would have been doing right now. She had just been on her way home from being at the mall with friends. She was so close to her house, if only she had walked a bit faster perhaps she could have been inside before they had time to catch her.

Back and forth, back and f–

The door handle pulled down. Somebody was coming in. Sabina backed away from the door a few paces and stood with her head held high in defiance at being locked away.

A familiar face appeared behind the door. A hesitant smile played on his lips, unsure what Sabina's reaction to him would be. He ran a tanned hand through his short blond hair, pushing it out of his eyes. Alex Rider was the one who had gotten her involved with the 'incident' in the first place.

Alex was a spy working for MI6, or so he had tried to tell her, Sabina of course didn't believe him. Not until she had been kidnapped and held for ransom. When she had been sitting in Damian Cray's house, gagged and bound, and Alex had walked into the room, it was only then that she finally believed him.

Now, she was grateful to see someone she knew, but thinking he was behind putting her in this prison made her feel a little uneasy.

"Hey," Alex greeted her from the doorway.

Sabina could see a security guard standing behind him, clad with a gun holstered to his right hip. "Hi." She said bluntly, shooting him a confused look.

He took a deep breath before beginning. "I'm sorry to have gotten you mixed up with this again. We just have to go upstairs and explain what happened, they want a detailed run of events."

"They?"

"Uhh, yeah... look they'll introduce themselves when we get up there."

Sabina nodded and followed him out of the room, thankful to be leaving her prison. As she passed the security checks the guards returned her handbag and cellphone. She turned it on, six missed calls. She sighed, knowing they would be from her parents, frantically worrying about her.

* * *

><p>"...and here we are." She finished her story before picking up the glass in front of her and taking in a mouthful of the refreashing water to soothe her parched throat.<p>

Alex had sat and listened tentatively to Sabina's rendition of what had happened. Soon it would be his turn to speak. He had been asked to leave the room by the man taking notes, but had refused to leave. Alex felt extremely guilty over the fear he had caused Sabina and made a promise to himself that nothing like that would ever happen to her again. And if that meant he had to stay her now, then so be it.

"Thank you, I think we have everything we need from you Sabina." Said Mr Goff, the man who had been asking questions to get the details from her. He reached across and turned the recording device off. Mr Goff wore a green tweed suit and had thick, tourtise-shell rimmed glasses, Alex noted.

He glanced towards the door and then spoke to the two teenagers in front of him. "I believe you are wanted elsewhere Sabina. Alex, if you would stay and tell me your version of the story..."

Alex twisted in his seat as Mrs Jones walked into the room. Her blue skirt-suit showed off her dark skin, and her hair was twisted into a tight bun giving her the air of professionalism.

"Don't fret, Alex, we only need Sabina to sign the official secrets act and then she is free to go." Mrs Jones told him in a breath of peppermint.

Sabina stood up from her chair and walked over to the lady. Alex heard them exchanging names as they exited the room.

* * *

><p>Sabina was led into a big office room at the top of the building. Two walls were made of glass with a striking view over the high buildings of London. Opposite the door was a mahogany desk, with an impressive looking computer set up on it.<p>

As Mrs Jones and Sabina walked into the room a man behind the desk stood up to greet them. He was yet another man in a suit to Sabina, yet this guy was older. His white hair was thinning and slicked back, his eyes had been magnified under his horn rimmed glasses.

"Miss Pleasure," He stated rather than asked, "I'm Mr Blunt." He introduced himself.

Sabina nodded and shook the hand that Mr Blunt had raised. "Hi." She said timidly.

She took a seat on the other side of the desk, facing the man, Mrs Jones continued standing behind Sabina. "The Damian Cray case went well. The press think he passed away from natural causes, no one knows what his plans were. Anybody involved with Damian has been arrested and will be on trial soon."

Sabina imagined this is what a briefing would be like. She imagined Alex sitting here countless times with a nonchalant expression listening to this man talk. She didn't really care what this man was saying, or understand most of it, but she tried to keep up with him.

When she felt like it was appropriate she would say "aha" and "yup" nodding along. He gestured to a big tv screen mounted on to a wall. When she turned and looked images of people flashed across it. Some of them she recognised from Damian's house, others she didn't.

One short video that played caught her eye. It was security cameras from the plane showing her attempting to stop Damian. Then another played of Alex being shot. The memories and emotions of the time a few days ago came flooding back to her.

"We've been watching you Miss Pleasure." Mr Blunt coming to an end of his briefing and changing topics.

"And?" She asked confused.

Mrs Jones had stayed quiet until now, "and you have certain skills..."

"Skills?"

Images of herself flashed up on the moniter, pictures from before the 'incident' and pictures only a couple of days old. Some one had been following here, right up until the mall only a few hours ago.

* * *

><p>The interview was dragging on. Alex could feel the minutes passing like hours. His voice was hoarse from talking. He had to tell his story from the very beginning, since his holiday in the south of France.<p>

Mr Goff sat patiently taking notes when necessary and asking question when needed. The details MI6 needed was comprehensive.

"When I arrived home there was a... present waiting for me."

"What kind of present?" Mr Goff asked.

"A television that was connected to Damian Cray."

"And why didn't you go to MI6 at this point?"

"I tried." Alex said pointedly.

"Oh, please continue." He gestured to Alex.

"Right... so I was shown images of Sabina being held hostage. That was his leverage." Alex sighed dejectedly. And before Mr Goff interupted him again he went into detail. "She wasn't hurt, in the pictures I mean. Just looked distraught and confused. It was my fault she was in this mess though, so I had to get her out."

"Carry on..." Mr Goff said when Alex paused.

He took a quick swig of water, "I took a taxi to Cray's and walked into the lunatics house with the flashdrive..."

* * *

><p>"Why have you got pictures of me?" Sabina asked concerned.<p>

"How is your Father doing?" Once again Blunt changed the subject.

Sabina was having a hard time following his train of thought. "Um... he's still in hospital... recovering. I've been told it will take awhile."

"He was burnt badly." He stated bluntly.

It wasn't a question but she answered anyway, "yes."

"I imagine the surgerys will be expensive."

"I never really thought about that... but I guess so."

"After doing some research MI6 has found out that you don't have the money. Your Mother has taken out a second mortgage on the house and that will barely cover the costs. Your insurance was never reapplied so you can't claim it on that. And we found some more debt that they are in which needs to be paid soon. What is your family going to do?"

Sabina was speechless at the wall information thrown at her. "Um..." was all she could manage.

Mr Blunt made his way around the table so he was standing in front of Sabina looking down at her. "I have a proposition for you."

Sabina glanced behind her to Mrs Jones who had a frown on her face and then looked back to Mr Blunt. "Yes...?"

"If you help MI6, MI6 will help you by paying for your Fathers care. We can have him sent to a private hospital, were he will get only the best treatment, do you accept?"

"I'm sorry, I don't quite understand what you're asking. What do you want from me?"

"Your assistance."

"Assistance in what?" Sabina asked confused.

"In missions. Alex Rider has proven to be very efficient and a useful asset to Britain, with your help MI6 could be even more succesful." He returned to his seat behind his desk and started signing papers that were in front of him.

Sabina stood up from her seat abrubtly. "That's not much of a choice! You're threatening my family with bankruptcy if I don't agree to help you?"

"Yes." He nodded once for emphasise.

"Don't I at least get time to think this over?"

"You have three days. We will be in touch." He promised. Without Sabina having noticed a kind looking lady walked over to her and gestured towards the door. "Lucy, my assitant, will show you out." He explained.

* * *

><p>"Come in, Alex." Mrs Jones opened the door for Alex.<p>

He had been in this office more times than he would have liked. Because they were either recruiting him for yet another mission or debriefing him after one. Never was their a "good luck" or a "congratulations, Alex", he felt always felt underappreciated in this room. Like they didn't care if he didn't come out of this mission alive.

"Where's Sabina?" He asked when he glanced around the room and noticed she wasn't there.

"We sent her home."

"Why am I here then?" Alex asked curiously.

"Same reason Sabina was – debriefing."

Alex listened with some interest as Mr Blunt explained to him what he assumed he had just gone over with Sabina, he wondered why they had to do this seperatly then if they were being told the same thing. Mrs Jones had taken a seat next to Alex but was busy typing some message on her blackburry.

"Any questions?" Mr Blunt asked once he had finished talking. Alex shook his head. "Ok." Alex noticed Mrs Jones put her phone away and sit up a little straighter. "Well, we have one thing to discuss with you. Another mission."

"I just finished one." He protested.

"That wasn't government authorised though."

Mrs Jones often worried that they were pushing Alex too much, but this time she thought her boss, Mr Blunt was going slightly over board. She hadn't known how Alex would react to the news, but she assumed it wouldn't be good, guess she was about to find out.

"Wasn't _government authorised_!" He repeated, not believing his ears. "I just saved the world! Doesn't that deserve some credit!"

"We _are_ very thankful, Alex." Mrs Jones tried to soothe the conversation. "However, we would appreciate if you could check out something to see if there is a need for MI6 to act."

_How quickly this debriefing_, Alex thought, _had turned into a briefing_. He shook his head minutly in disgust but allowed them to speak anyway.

"Aleksandra Titov." Mrs Jones started talking. The image of a lady flashed up on to the moniter. She was very striking in apperance, tall and slender with dark brown hair. Her hair cascaded around her shoulders in thick curls. An elegant but simplistic black dress stretched down to her ankles. The top half of her face was hidden behind huge sunglasses and a wide brimmed hat. "Have you heard of her?"

"The name sounds familiar..." He murmered, wracking his brain for the information.

"Aleksandra is the daughter of Viktor Titov-"

Alex had heard of that name. "The millionaire?" He interrupted.

Mrs Jones nodded and continued, "Yes, the Russian millionaire Viktor Titov has recently acquired a small island in the Pacific. We want to know what is going on there. Half of it has been opened up as a holiday destination, but the other half has as much security as the Prime Minister has."

"Ever think that he's just a private man?"

Mrs Jones just looked at him and kept speaking. "Even a millionaire doesn't need that much security. We want you to go to his island and check out what he is doing. Our sources say he is planning on exploding an atomic bomb, the fall out would be chatastropic. With all the small islands being demolished, New Zealand and Australia would be effected and even Papua New Guinea." As she was talking maps flashed on the moniter of the Pacific.

"We have two other field agents prepared to take on the role of your parents, they are going to help get you onto the island. You will be a vacationing family, looking for a quiet holiday." Mrs Jones continued.

"And when exactly are we meant to be going?" Alex asked, knowing that they will have sorted everything out without his permission, assuming that he would agree. Which he knew he would have to. They had threatened him before, insinuating that his caregiver, Jack Starbright, would be returned back to America if he didn't cooperate. And just like every other time he would agree to go on the mission for fear of loosing her.

"Five days." Mr Blunt joined in the conversation unexpectedly. "What will it be Alex?"

"Fine." He sighed, knowing he would be missing out on yet another few weeks of school.


	2. Decisions

_Hey there, my name is C.R. Richardson and I'm your author for this fic._

_First of all thank you for the reviews! The one that was in spanish made me freak out in good way (after I google translated of course) I can't believe that this fic made it to so many different countries. And the other review was great – critic is always welcome :D_

_Um, also I just read a summary for Scorpia Rising the last book in the series (I haven't actually read the book yet...), I don't want to spoil it for those who haven't read it though, but this does start halfway through Eagle Strike so just remember that none of the other books have happened yet._

_So, I don't usually post the next chapter so soon after I posted the other one, but you guys are great and so I feel like I should post this one for you guys. I want to apologise because this chapter is a lot shorter than the chapters I usually write. I promise the next one will be longer. Again I just whipped this up in a day, but I have school tomorrow, so the next one won't be up for a couple of days at the very least – silly homework!_

_The song used in this chapter is Pressure by Paramore :)_

_All I can really say is thank you so much for reading this, and I so hope you enjoy this chapter._

_Read and review please,_

_C.R. Richardson xx_

_(**Disclaimer**: I do not own the characters, they belong to the one and only Anthony Horowitz.)_

* * *

><p>"Mum, I'm home!" Sabina yelled as she walked through the front door of her house. She took of her jacket and hung it up on one of the hooks. Chucking her leather handbag on to the table, she picked up the big stack of envelopes and started flicking through them.<p>

"Sabina, is that you?" Her Mum came around the corner, speaking quietly because she had a phone held to her ear.

Not wanting to disrupt her Mum she waved and then continued through her house to the kitchen. While she was pulling food out of the cupboards her Mum walked in. "I was expecting you home a couple of hours ago, where were you Sweetie? You didn't answer your phone." She asked worriedly.

Her Mum had never really worried about what Sabina was doing up until the 'incident' so it was a new concept for her. "Phone died." She muttered.

"OK... make sure you charge next time." She let the subject go as the phone started ringing and she picked it up.

Sabina shook her head and contunued making a sandwhich. Plating it, she went up to her bedroom to think through exactly what had just happened to her with MI6.

She pushed the earbuds into her ears and pushed play on her ipod,

Just don't let me fall asleep  
>Feeling empty again<p>

Cause I fear I might break  
>and I fear I can't take it<br>Tonight I'll lie awake feeling empty

MI6 said they could make all her worries go away, they said that they would take care of her Dad. Could she trust them? She trusted Alex once upon a time, she still did trust him. She knew he would never let anything happen to her, but he did lie to her. If only he had told her more forcefully that he was involved with MI6 before she got kidnapped.

I can feel the pressure  
>It's getting closer now<br>We're better off without you  
>I can feel the pressure<br>It's getting closer now  
>We're better off without you<p>

She knew that with Alex there she would be safe. On the other hand, she had no experience, no training. She would be a dead weight getting in everybodies way. But this was MI6 so they must know what they're doing.

Now that I'm losing hope  
>And there's nothing else to show<br>For all of the days that we spent  
>Carried away from home <p>

Is this how Alex felt all the time? Did they pressure him into choices he didn't want to do. This was potentially a dangerous mission. Sabina watched movies, she knew some of the risks that happen in movies. Though she wasn't completely naïve either; she knew that in the movies they always walked out with barely a few scratches, she knew that wasn't how reality worked.

Some things I'll never know  
>And I had to let them go<br>I'm sitting all alone feeling empty

The song finished abrubtly in her ears and another one started it's opening beats. She was still no closer to a decision. To join MI6 or not?

* * *

><p>Sabina was walking down the hallway searching for her Mum. She heard some muttering from her Dad's study when she was about to push open the door she realised that it was already open a crack. She stopped and stood still, holding in her breath trying to make out what was being said.<p>

Usually no one is allowed in Edward Pleasures office, so Sabina didn't know whether she should be interrupting.

She peaked through the small gap to see what her Mum was doing. She was sitting in the middle of the office with papers spread out around her. She had make-up running down her face from the tears that were spilling over her eyes.

The shrill of a phone, made Sabina jump at the doorway. Her Mum pressed the speakerphone button and a professional sounding voice rang out "Hello, Mrs Pleasure?"

"Yes that's me."

"This is the bank, concerning your loan..."

Sabina's Mum picked up the phone hastily, taking it off speakerphone and bringing it up to her ear. "Yes!" She said eagerly.

Sabina watched as her Mums face fell from one of anticipation to one of desperation while she hung up the phone. And went back to looking at the bills in front of her. Sabina couldn't help but remember what Mr Blunt had said the other day._ "After doing some research MI6 has found out that you don't have the money. Your Mother has taken out a second mortgage on the house and that will barely cover the costs. Your insurance was never reapplied so you can't claim it on that. And we found some more debt that they are in __which needs to be paid soon. What is your family going to do?"_

* * *

><p>Backing away from the door, she made her way to her bedroom grabbing her handbag along the way. Her bedroom was filled with memories from her childhood. Pictures of friends cluttered her white walls. Clothes lay on the ground, some worn and some clean. Her Mum was constantly nagging at her to tidy her room but Sabina didn't want to change anything about her room.<p>

As soon as she walked in she tipped all of her belongings onto her bed. Covering the blue cover with bits of rubbish that she had in there for weeks. Sifting through the contents she plucked out a small rectangular business card.

It was plain with only a few lines of writing. When Sabina had gotten it she hadn't thought twice about it and shoved it into her handbag. Now she was studying it she noticed how nondescript it was; it only said 'Mrs Jones' with a phone number printed neatly underneath.

Holding up the business card, Sabina carefully typed in the numbers on her cellphone. After checking the numbers twice she hit the call button and placed the phone on her ear.

"Mrs Jones," A stern voice on the end answered after a couple of rings.

"Um, hi, it's Sabina... Pleasure." She spoke into it nervously.

Mrs Jones had known who was calling when she saw the number. "I wasn't expecting a call from you until tomorrow."

"If you're busy I can call back later..."

"No, no, nows fine. I assume you have made a decision?"

"Yes, I have..." Sabina said hesitantly. "I've decided to come. You promise my Dad will be treated well?"

"That was the agreement." Mrs Jones said non-commitedly.

No backing out now, she had said yes, so she had to go ahead with it. "Ok. Are you sure though? I have no training or experience."

"We're sure." She said, but she wasn't sure. Alan Blunt had managed to convince her that Sabina would be fine, but for the first time she doubted his choice. "Can you come in tomorrow for a briefing? Say, four?"

"Um, I have school, so I might be a bit late, but I can try."

"That's fine. Goodbye Sabina." Mrs Jones said coldly.

"Bye..." Sabina said, but it was pointless. Mrs Jones had already ended the call. Sabina stood listening to the dial tone on the end of the phone. What was she going to tell her Mum? Who knew how long this mission would last. _But it will all be worth it when Dad gets out of hospital,_ she thought, _won't it?_

* * *

><p>After hanging up the phone Mrs Jones marched through to her bosses office. She walked with stern determination. She didn't believe that Sabina should be going on a mission, she couldn't see the reason why Alan had so desperatly fought for her to become a spy.<p>

"I hope you're happy." Mrs Jones stated as she strode through the door. A wave of peppermint followed her in.

Although his face never changed from a frown, she could tell that he was giving her a question look.

"Sabina agreed. She agreed."

The slightest smile appeared at the corner of his thin lips. "Good."

"You had better help her Father like you promised." She said sternly. Standing in front of his desk with her hand on her hips.

"Of course." He said, peering at the papers in front of him. There was always paperwork with this job. Always something that needed his signature on.

"I arranged for her to come in at four tomorrow. Shall I call the others and get them to come in then too?"

Still signing papers on his desk, "yes that will be good." He said distracted.

Mrs Jones left his office not feeling any better. She still didn't think that Sabina was a good decision. She worried that Sabina would be too scared and not strong enough to handle the intense pressure that came with the job. She had to be quick on her feet, and have the ability to make appropriate split second choices. She hoped Alan knew what he was doing.


	3. Briefing

_Hey there, I'm C.R. Richardson your author for this fic._

_I want to start by saying a big thank you to all the people who have read this story and put it onto story alert! You guys are all amazing, I hope I'm not letting you down as the story continues._

_Life has been very busy and stressful at the moment with school work. It seems like all the teachers got together and decided to make all my internals due in at the same time! But I really wanted to get this chapter written so I can see where it is going and how they are going to get there (that's right, I put my schooling career on the line for you guys)._

_So, this chapter is all about the briefing of the new mission and I guess more about Alex and Sabinas relationship. This chapter is a little short which I apologise for, but there was really not much else I wanted to add into this chapter as the next one will be Sabina's training and I decided that should have its own chapter._

_Once again, I apologise for any spelling mistakes that may have been missed by myself. I still don't have a beta for this, (I have to look for one!) and so I'm kind of doing my own editing :/_

_Reviews let me know your opinion on the story; whether you like it or not. So please do review, even if it is one word, it is still helpful!_

_Now off I go to work on my internals..._

_Thanks again for taking the time to read this,_

_C.R. Richardson xx_

_(**Disclaimer: **I do not own Alex Rider, I'm just a fan, who saw the books leading in another direction and wrote it down.)_

* * *

><p>The receptionist glanced up as the blonde teenager stauntered into the room. She eyed him suspeciously, but soon recognised him as Alex Rider, a spy for MI6. She nodded in acknowledgment at him, and Alex headed straight for the elevator.<p>

"He's on his way." She spoke to Alan Blunts personal assistant some floors above her.

Mrs Jones had called him yesterday and asked for him to come in. So after school he had gotten on the train and made his way over, still in uniform.

Alex stepped off the elevator after the short ride up and made his way to Mr Blunts office. He knocked on the door twice before opening it and hesitantly pushing his head through the door.

"Alex, come in." Mr Blunt said, a few pairs of eyes turned around and looked at him accusingly. Alex stepped in closing the door behind him. He could feel their eyes judging him, and wished he had taken a little more time to straighten out his uniform. "Sue, Jacob, I want you to meet Alex, he will be joining you on this mission." Mr Blunt continued. "Alex this is Sue and Jacob who will be your partners."

At the mention of 'partners' the two adults cringed slightly. "Pleasure." Sue said coldly, standing up to shake his hand.

"Um, hi." Alex was caught of guard, he hadn't been expecting to see other spys today. He shook Jacob's hand too, though Jacob didn't say anything to him.

"Please, sit." Mr Blunt gestured to a seat opposite him. Two of which were already occupied by Sue and Jacob, that left two spares.

Mrs Jones hovered at the back of the room, to add her opinion when needed. She felt her blackberry vibrate in her hand and she glanced at the message her assitant had sent her 'Sabina is downstairs'.

* * *

><p>Sabina had entered the building looking frazzled. She was wearing an old pair of shorts with a baggy t-shirt on top and a pair of worn out trainers. Her hair was tied back in a messy bun and sweat clung to the nape of her neck. She had slung her bag over one shoulder after leaving the gym and quickly made her way to MI6.<p>

She had contemplated whether or not to go to the gym before her meeting. But her nerves were near bursting point by the end of the day, so she decided to go and release her adrenaline doing physical exercise. Thirty minutes sprinting on the treadmill had done the trick, but she hadn't had enough time to change, she was already late as it was.

"Hi, I'm Sabina Pleasure." She told the receptionist at the big counter. "I'm here to see Mrs Jones?"

"I'll let her know you're here." She said with a smile. "If you'd like to take a seat?" She gestured to a row of seats of to the side.

Already Sabina felt competely under dressed. The professional bun that receptionist wore made Sabina feel dirty and smelly. Regreting not taking a shower and getting changed, Sabina did as she was told and took a seat.

She didn't have to wait long, Mrs Jones stepped out of the elevator wearing yet another skirt suit. "Sabina, there you are." She flashed a forced smile at the teenager. "Why don't you come upstairs where we can brief you."

Sabina just nodded nervously and followed her to the elevators. The long mirrors only made her feel more self conscious about what she was wearing.

* * *

><p>Alex hadn't even noticed when Mrs Jones had left the room, nor did he notice when she re-entered. He had been listening intently to what Mr Blunt had been telling him about Sue and Jacob. It was the usual; "30 years old, been a spy for 10 years, helped on countless successful missions, etc, etc..."<p>

"Sabina." Mr Blunt said looking over the heads of the three people in front of him.

At her name Alex whipped his head around. He saw her standing in the door way, her hands fidgiting as she pulled at the edges of her t-shirt. _What is she doing here?_ Alex thought. _She isn't supposed to be here._

"Sabina?" His mouth opened into a wide 'O' as he gaped at her.

"Hi," She said quietly, glancing around the room, trying not to make eye contact with Alex.

"Sit down." Mr Blunt commanded, annoyed that she was late.

Sabina obeyed and quickly walked to the only free seat. Alex was still gaping at her as she sat next to him. When she finally looked at her he mouthed out "what are you doing here?" to which she responded "later".

Mr Blunt cleared his throat before starting. "Viktor Titov, a Russian millionaire, 56 years old. Was born into his fortune. His wife died a three years ago. He has one daughter, Aleksandra, who is 28 years old. Five months ago he bought a small island in the Pacific..."

Alex stared blankly at the file in front of him. Pages of background information blended together as his mind wandered to Sabina and what she was doing here. He glanced at her and saw her reading the notes and listening to what Mr Blunt was saying.

"Wait, who is the source that says there is a nuclear bomb?" Sabina interrupted the boss.

He didn't look very happy with her, although he was constantly wearing a frown so his face didn't change much. "Aleksandra Titov is our source."

"Well that's unreliable." She scoffed. "She's his daughter."

Mr Blunt didn't like being secound guessed in front of people. "She can be trusted." Was all he said in response to her.

Sabina noticed that he was angry and so she backed off, cowering back into her seat and immersing herself in the countless leafs that were tucked under the flaps of a brown manila folder.

* * *

><p>After handing out fake passports, Mr Blunt dismissed the four spies. Sue and Jacob didn't stick around very long. As soon as they were allowed to, they left. Sabina turned towards Mr Blunt.<p>

"What are you going to tell my parents? I mean we're going away for a week. I can't just tell my Mum I'm at a sleepover."

"We have all of that sorted, don't worry." Mrs Jones answered for him. "We'll also be requiring you to come in for some basic training tomorrow." She added.

"What time?"

"7am, is that ok?"

"I have school..."

"School isn't going to help you in the field." She stated bluntly.

"7 it is." Sabina turned her back and busied herself with her bag. When she turned back around she was surprised to see Alex still lingering by the door.

Taking a deep breath she put her shoulders back and walked past Alex without even a secound glance.

He followed her out, closing the door behind them. He rushed into the elevator before the door closed before he spoke. "What are you doing here?" He asked, pushing the 'G' button to take them to the ground floor.

Sabina shrugged nonchantly, and inspected her passport. "How did they get my picture?" She asked, cringing as she saw the picture they had choosen. It was her school photo from last year, at the time she had thought she looked good, but now she stared horrified at her face that was untouched with make up and unstyled hair.

"Beats me." Alex said.

"'Sabina Mathews'..." She read out her fake name. "Hmmm... well it has a ring to it..."

"Yeah, sounds great. You still haven't answered my question."

Sabina sighed, realising that there was no way around this one. "I don't know, Mr Blunt asked me to do a mission for him, so I said yes."

"Because you really enjoyed being kidnapped by Damian Cray?"

"Of course not!"

"Then why?"

"It's hard to explain."

"Try." He insisted. But luckily she didn't have to. The elevator doors opened and she raced out of the doors, clutching her back to her shoulder.

Alex called after her, but she was listening. He didn't want Sabina to come and risk her life, but he also didn't want to be the controling friend. He knew that whatever he said Sabina would do the opposite.

"Mr Rider!" The receptionist calld from behind him. He turned around to see what she wanted. "Mrs Jones would like to speak to you quickly. She's coming down now."

Alex sighed and walked over to the row of seats in the lobby. He heard the elevators reaching the ground level, but didn't look up to acknowledge Mrs Jones.

"Can I sit?" She asked politely.

He shrugged and gestured for her to have a seat.

"I can tell you are not very happy with Sabinas involvment. It would be helpful if you could give her some training tomorrow. She's going to need some help, she wasn't brought up to do this. So, will you?"

"I'm not sure if that's such a good idea..." Alex trailed off.

"You would be the best, she trusts you already, and we know your training is good enough." Usually Mrs Jones wouldn't talk about business in the lobby, but she didn't think she could drag Alex back up to her office.

"Fine." He said, then got up and left the building without a backwards glance.

* * *

><p>Alex walked to the train station thinking about this situation. It wasn't ideal. It wasn't ideal <em>at all<em>. He had never expected Sabina to become involved in all of this and he felt entirely to blame. If wasn't for him medeling in Damian Crays business, Sabina would have never been kidnapped and Alan Blunt would never have met her.

_Then again_, thought Alex, _the world as I know it would not be around if Damian Cray had succeded in his plan._

Saving the world was still very surreal to Alex. Sure he had seen _James Bond_ when he was younger and thought spy life would have been cool. But now that it was reality for him, it was different, it was dangerous. Sometimes he feared for his life. Now he has to fear for Sabinas life too.

In someways he was greatful that it would be him training Sabina tomorrow. It would give him a chance to see what she was capable of, and how much training she would need. But on the other hand, he was worried that she hadn't quite forgiven him for being kidnapped and wasn't sure how she would react to seeing him.


	4. Training

_Hey there, I'm C.R. Richardson, your author for this fic._

_And what a bad author I am. How long has it been since my last update? Like 2 months maybe? 2 months! That's just shocking! I am so sorry! And I kept getting all these story alert emails and I kept thinking 'awni this chapter is not going to be up any time soon'. So today I finally sat myself down and went 'Finish it. Just do it. Who cares if it's bad (well I do care..), just write it. And get it up. Stop putting it off!'_

_I am not very happy with how it turned out, it's kind of how I wanted it but it could have been better. *sigh* Oh well. There isn't much I can do about that, all I can say is that I hope you enjoy the next chapter more. The next one is them getting their gadgets, so fingers crossed I can think of good, plausible gadget ideas._

_Hope that you enjoy this chapter, and that it isn't too bad..._

_Please review! It helps me to know what I'm doing right or wrong and whether I should continue and stuff like that :D_

_Thanks,_

_C.R. Richardson xx_

_(**Disclaimer:** I don't own Alex Rider.)_

* * *

><p>Beep Beep.<p>

Her eyes flew open as she sat bolt upright. She sighed loudly and raised a hand to cover her eyes. Sabina flopped back on her bed, basking in the few minutes she had left. Her ability to block out the painful beeping sound had matured over the years, and so now she could barely even hear the constant noise.

Beep Beep.

She knew that she had to get up. Her bed was lovely and warm, but that was only one of the reasons why she didn't want to get up. She knew she was facing a day of hard training and that Sue would not be going easy on her.

Beep Beep.

She started to open her eyes slowly, tearing the sleep that glued them together. The soft light that peered through the bottom of her curtains gave the room a pleasant glow. She reached out a hand and hit her alarm clock. Finally the insistant beeping stopped.

It was 5.30, this was an earlier wake up call then usual. But to get to MI6 by seven, this was what she had to do. Dangling her bare feet over the side of the bed she pushed herself off. Stretching her arms above her head she tried to wake herself up more. It was useless, she knew the only way to wake up was to have a shower.

Walking to the bathroom, her silky nighty swished against her tanned thighs and her tousled hair lay boldly around her face.

"Sabina?"

The unsuspected voice made her jump. _That's one way to wake me up_, she thought. "Mum!" She raised a hand to her heart in order to show she had just been scared.

Her Mum glanced at her watch. "What are you doing up so early? It's six!"

"Um..." She was bad at lying to begin with so her tired frame of mind wasn't helping. "I have to be at school early. Big project at the moment."

"Oh ok, well I'm just heading out to see Dad and then I'm off to work."

"Ok, tell Dad I say hi!" Sabina smiled, glad her Mum bought her lie.

She walked over and gave Sabina a kiss on the forhead. "Will do, Sweetie. Bye!" She rushed down the stairs. Sabina waited until she heard the door shut before continuing through to the bathroom.

* * *

><p>"I apologise but Sabina Pleasure will not be attending school today." Sabina held the phone to her ear, trying to do a good impersonation of her Mums voice. "She has a terrible flu and will be off tomorrow aswell. Doctors orders."<p>

The lady on the other end seemed to buy it. After Sabina had given her all the details she hung up. Sabina was surprised to find how much she had lied already, just today. _I guess this is part of spy life_, she thought.

Looking at the clock she realised it was twenty to seven and rushed to grab her gym bag. She was already wearing her black running shorts, sneakers and a tank top. She knew it was going to be cold outside but figured she would warm up soon. Running to the fridge she pulled out two cool bottles of water and put them in her bag. As she passed her handbag she transferred her wallet, her phone and her iPod over. Convincing herself that she had everything she closed and locked the door behind her.

She had to run to the train station otherwise she would have missed her train. But the running didn't bother her, it wasn't far and the movement helped warm her up.

* * *

><p>"You're late." She heard Sue before she could see her.<p>

Sue was sitting in the lobby on one of the chairs. Sabina made her way over apologising and rattling off a list of excuses.

"Just don't let it happen again." She said standing and making her way to the elevator. The experienced spy was ready for the day, she was wearing clothes similar to Sabinas.

It was a silent trip up the 5 floors to the high tech gym. It was a one huge room with a number of different exercise machines; ranging from treadmills to exercycles and rowing machines to cross trainers. Sabina had a subscription to her local gym and regularly went there but she had never seen anything like this. The people at this gym were all trained spys compared to the general public who use Sabina's one. They had come to train and so that was what they did. No one was talking, no one was pretending to work hard they actually were working hard because this was serious for them, this was business.

Sabina was a little intimidated by it all as Sue led her through the room and into the changing room, showing her were to put her bags. Sabina felt her stomach turn as she walked past all the training spys again. She was nervous because she knew that was going to be her soon and she knew that Sue would be ruthless.

They came to a stop at a floor of mats. "Have you had any previous training?"

"I've been trained in the art of origami..." Sabina joked with a smile.

Sue gave her an unamused look. "This isn't a game. This is reality. And when you're out there in a real life-or-death situation, you're going to want to make sure you've had _some_ training."

Her comment quickly wiped the smile off of Sabina's face. "No, I haven't had any training." She said, feeling guilty. That was the second thing she had done wrong and it was only 7.30 in the morning. Sabina was dreading the rest of the day. "I've done a manditory self defence course at school!" She remembered, trying to be helpful.

"Well that's something at least." Sue muttered, looking doubtful.

* * *

><p><em>Kick. Punch. Defend. Spin. Defend. Duck. Kick. <em>Was all that was going through Sabina's brain as she fought with Sue for training. She was getting pretty good; she could now predict almost every move Sue would make before she made it.

Sue glanced behind Sabina, loosing her concentration for a split-second. Sabina took her chance and brought her opponenet down onto the soft mats below them. She heard a slow clapping from behind her.

Turning around she saw Alex with a smirk on his face. He had watched the whole fight and she had been too busy to notice. She turned around, trying to ignore him. Holding out her hand she helped Sue off of the ground and checked to see if she was ok.

"That was pretty good," Alex whispered in her ear, he had come up behind her. "You know, for a beginner."

She rolled her eyes and chose not to respond to his snide comment. "Why are you here?" She asked none to kindly.

"To help. Apparently I'm needed, although you seem to be doing a good enough job on your own." He said pointing to Sue.

"I have real work to do." Sue joined their conversation. "Alex will be taking you for a couple of hours and the same will happen tomorrow." With that out of the way she left to go to the changing rooms.

Sabina was tired, she had already been working hard for eight hours, stopping only for a one hour lunch break. Sue had been ruthless and reluctant to even allow her the hour for lunch. The worked on her defensive skills and some basic offensive ones too. After her last training fight she felt more confident. _Now I just need someone to distract my opponent while I'm fighting them, _she thought, _and I'll be fine._

"So what are we going to do?" He asked, breaking the silence.

Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "You're the boss. No plan?" She used as few words as possible.

"No. I was expecting to do this!" Alex defended himself. "Want to go for a run?"

_No._ She thought. What she really wanted to do was crawl into bed and stay there forever but she didn't want Alex to know this. "Sounds good." She said with a smile. "Mind if I grab my iPod?"

"Not at all."

Sabina walked away from him towards the changing room, where she got to sit for a few minutes trying to regain some energy. Pulling out her iPod, she stood up sooner than she would have liked. Alex was still on the mats, he was already dressed in appropriate clothes so he was doing some warm up stretches.

When he saw Sabina he stopped. "Ready?"

"Yup." She help up her iPod and walked with Alex to the elevator. Before he tried talking to her she pushed the earbuds into her ears and blasted music.

The next day at four Alex arrived again to take over training. This time Sue had pushed Sabina even harder and she hadn't recovered from yesterdays training yet.

"Bye!" Sabina waved cheerily as she watched Sue walking away leaving her alone with Alex. As soon as Sue disappeared behind the door, Sabina quickly collapsed on the mats in a small heap.

Alex looked on worried. "Are you ok?"

"Please don't make me do any exercise!" She panted, as she tried to get air into her lungs, begging for him to agree.

"What?" He crouched down on the mat next to her head.

"I can't do anymore! I'm exhausted!" She lifted her head, leaning on her elbows. Just doing that took all her remaining strength.

"Ok, come on." Alex grasped Sabina's arm and started to pick her up of the ground. "Let's go, come on!" He tried to motivate her.

She sighed and relunctantly stood on her shakey legs. "What are we doing?" She asked, fearful that he was going to make her do more exercise.

"I'll take you home." He said, smiling as she sighed in relief. "Now go and get dressed so we can go."

She happily ran to the changing rooms with a renewed strength. Stepping into the shower, Sabina let the hot water soak through her skin and loosen her tight muscles. She had just been through two days of hell. The exercise regime Sue had set up was ridiculous, she didn't even have to do everything she just 'supervised'.

Alex accompanied Sabina on the train. They talked amicably between themselves. However there was still tension as Sabina never wanted to be there in the first place and Alex feels guilty for her being recruited by MI6. Getting off the train, Alex walked Sabina to her front door. They were definitely getting on better than before, but there was still restraint and distance in their relationship.


	5. Gadgets

_Hi everybody, I'm C.R. Richardson, your author for this fic :D_

_...How long has it been? Months? ...I'm such a bad person! And this chapter probably isn't even all that good yet I made you wait months for it! I'M SO VERY SORRY!_

_Ok, now that the apologies are out of the way... in this chapter they get there gadgets from Smithers! I just want you all to know that thinking of gadgets for girls is a lot easier than for guys which is why Alex's are pretty pathetic actually._

_So, I finished Scorpia Rising the other day – I'm going to be honest I didn't really like it.. **Spoiler Alert **(for those who haven't read it): He killed off Jack! Why would you do that to poor Alex who has been through a heck of a lot! There's also the case of Smithers... ruined the allusion of which was a very fat man (unless of course Anthony Horowitz knew all along who Smithers really was, in which case bravo for keeping it hidden in all 7 books – but what was the suit made out of?) And at the very end when Alex goes to stay with the Pleasures – I mean I'm happy for him having a normal life. But that just ruins every hope of the two of them being together if they're siblings! ...anyway enough ranting! I have to respect that if Anthony Horowitz saw that as how the book was going to end the series then that is how he saw it, and it is his story._

_Well, I hope you enjoy this chapter!_

_Everytime someone story alerted this it made me feel so bad that I hadn't written anything, but it also motivated me to keep writing so please review and tell me what you think!_

_C.R. Richardson xx_

_(**Disclaimer:** It all belongs to Anthony Horowitz.)_

* * *

><p>Sabina had already packed her bags the night before. She was prepared. Her pulse was jittering around like a nervous butterfly. She had no idea what to expect, this was all so new to her and she felt like even after two days of intense training she was still not as prepared as she could be.<p>

She would be leaving later that day. Sue, Jacob, Alex and herself would take the plane and be on their way to a small island in the Pacific Ocean. Titov Island was what Viktor Titov had named it. _Original._ She thought sarcastically when she had heard the name.

A car had sent to pick her up and would be there any minute, she had yet to tell her Mother the real reason that she would be leaving for at least a week. Mrs Jones and been in contact with her and asked her to tell her Mum that she was going to be away in a school trip. Paperwork had come in the mail the other day, when Sabina had reluctantly agreed to help MI6. Her Mother had willingly signed the papers as her mind was in a completely different space.

Ever since her Father had been put in hospital, Sabina had felt somewhat neglected. Not that she begrudged her Dad for this at all. She was still furious with Damian Cray for causing such a strain in her family.

A horn beeped out on the street. Her ears immediately picked up the sound and she sat up straighter. As her Mum thought she was going on school camp, she had asked the driver not to come to the door, instead just to beep the horn.

Sabina yanked her heavy suitcase off the bed and pulled it down the stairs to the front door. She left it there so that she could find her Mum and bid her goodbye.

"Mum?" Sabina knocked hesitantly on her Parents bedroom door.

When there was no response Sabina walked in slowly. Her eyes scanned the room quickly, and instantly picked out her Mum's figure sitting at a dressing table.

Mrs. Pleasure was staring blankly at her own reflection. Her eyes were dead, there was no sparkle that had previously inhabited them. Her hand pulled a wooden brush through her short brown hair like a robot. It was like life had become a chore rather than something that was to be enjoyed.

Sabina cleared her throat, causing her Mum to jump and turn around at the sudden noise. "Mum? Can I come in?"

"Of course!" The smile that was forced onto her face pained her daughter, who knew how fake it truly was.

"Is everything ok?"

"Fine, Sweetheart! I'm just about to go in and see your Father." She stood up and grabbed a braclet before trying to attach the clasp with only one hand.

Sabina sighed and walked over to her. She took the braclet in her hands and worked the clasp over the small metal circle that would close it. "I have to go... to camp. Remember?"

"Oh, that's today?" Her Mum looked confused, the days had gotten away from her. Between visiting her husband, worrying about the bills and trying to hold herself together, time had become a meaningless term to her.

"Yeah... will you be alright, Mum?" Sabina was worried she would forget about food or sleep without her constant reminding.

"Stop worrying about me." She insisted, making her way past her daughter and exiting the room. "I should be worried about you. Where are you going again?"

Sabina hadn't read the sheets of paper and so didn't actually know the lies her Mum had been spoon-fed. "Oh, um.. you know. It's just a... um.. yeah. Look Mum, I really have to go now!" She leaned over and kissed her on the check. "Give Dad my love!" She waved and rushed to the door grabbing her suitcase on the way.

A few doors down a black car was parked. It was supposed to be inconspicuous, but considering the family vans that cluttered Sabina's street, the car did anything but blend in. She sighed and made her way down to it.

A man in a black work suit stepped out of the passenger door and without a word helped Sabina put her bag in the trunk. He was wearing dark sunglasses and had an ear piece in. He was so stereotypically 'spy' that it was almost comical. He walked to the backseat door and held it open for Sabina.

With one last longing glance at her own quaint home she stepped into the dim seat. Sabina hoped that she wasn't going to hurt herself when she finally reached the bottom of the rabbit hole.

"We're taking you to MI6." The tall man who had helped Sabina said once the car pulled away. He spoke formally and chose his words carefully. It was clear that he was going to say what needed to be said and nothing more.

She was starting to get a feel for all the people who worked for the British Secret Service – cold, hard and like they had seen too much. Sabina just hoped that she didn't turn into that herself.

_That's not going to happen._ She reasured herself. _It's purely an informative mission. To see if anything is happening. Mrs. Jones would have told be if anything serious was going on._

She was watching out the front windscreen, she wasn't really paying attention to the route they were taking as she knew the end destination. Sabina saw the passenger glancing in the review mirror every 30 seconds like he was searching for something in particular.

Curiously, Sabina turned and looked out the back window. She noticed nothing suspicious, just normal cars on a normal road. _The man must just be overly cautious. _Sabina summed up.

* * *

><p>Alex was leaning against the cool grey wall of the fake bank that was infact MI6 headquaters. His sandy blonde hair was perfectly tousled and his face was slightly tan. He wore dark jeans that hung low on his hips and a t-shirt with 'keep calm and carry on' printed boldly on the front. "Hey." He greated Sabina nonchalantly with a nod of his head.<p>

"Hi." She responded politely. Her tight jeans clung to her long legs and her comfortable cardigan hung down to her thighs. She had to drag her suitcase up the steps that led to the entrance of the bank. The public must have found it very odd, her taking a bag into the bank, but then again they were used to strange people entering and leaving the bank on a daily basis.

"Want some help with that?" He pushed himself off of the wall and walked a few steps over to Sabina, nodding to the suitcase in her hand.

She gave him a disbelieving look. "Yeah, that probably would have been helpful _before _I got to the top."

"Right." He realised his mistake. "Ready to go in?"

"Sure." She followed Alex through the glass doors and into the big foyer.

He walked straight up to the receptionist and spoke directly to her. "Alex Rider and Sabina Pleasure to see Mr. Smithers. He's expecting us." He added quickly to the end.

The blonde, young receptionist eyed them both and then looked at her computer. The man, Mr. Smithers, did work for MI6. He wasn't a spy like most of the people in the building, instead he created gadgets and weaponary for the spies. He was talented at what he did and any spy to get work by him were considered lucky.

She nodded her head and motioned for them to make their way over to the elevator. "Level four. You can leave your bag with me, Sabina." She came out from behind her desk and took the suitcase off of Sabina, before wheeling it back around behind her.

* * *

><p>"Alex, m'boy!" Came a voice as joyfully loud as birds on a summers day. The door had only been cracked open and Alex barely had a toe through before the man had yelled at them. Alex didn't seem worried by it, instead a huge grin spread across his face.<p>

"Smithers." Alex greated him with a small chuckle, finally making his way fully into the room and shaking the man's hand.

Sabina followed closely behind, anxious to meet this cheerful man. He was huge. That was her first impression of him. There was just so much of him to take in. His gigantic size, his bright eyes, and his mischevious grin.

"And you must be Sabina?" He noticed the third person in the room. "Welcome to my humble... office." He giggled at his own joke. "Well, what can I say? I've been expecting you. These gadgets were exceptionally fun to make!" His voice was alight with excitement.

"What have you got for us today?" Alex asked as he plonked himself down on one of the two seats sitting opposite Mr. Smithers.

His office was rather dull. It was just like you'd imagine an office to be – no personal touches, just a wooden desk, stacks of paper and abstract colourful painitngs surrounding the walls.

The gadget-maker sat down along with Sabina, only he found this more difficult than the latter did. His weight made it hard for him to squeeze into the office chair made for skinnier people. "I think you're going to be very happy!" He said, turning into his computer and typing a few things into the keyboard.

He paused for 30 seconds before opening a drawer in this desk. It was empty apart from a small pink iPod. "You first, Sabina." He placed it on the desk in front of all three of them. "After seeing photo's of you, I realise that you go _nowhere_ without your iPod so I figured this was appropriate."

She picked it up and started scrolling through all the songs, recognising all of them.

"When you click into Podcasts and plug the headphones in you can listen to anyone in a four meter radius. Hit play/pause and you'll record the conversation. Anything recorded will be automatically sent here to me. Even if you're not sure whether it could be important push record anyway. Oh, and I also took the liberty of adding all your own songs onto it."

He let the information settle in and pushed a few more keys into the keyboard, watching as Sabina admired his handy-work.

"This is a braclet." He pulled out a simple metal charm braclet. The charms attached to it were cute but meaningless to Sabina. "There is a small tracking device here." He fingered a small pigeon charm. "If you're in trouble just twist the head twice and it will start transmitting a signal to me, I'll be able to find you wherever you are."

She reashed over and took the braclet off Mr. Smither. "A Homing Pigeon. Cute."

"I was quiet pleased with it." He answered smugly. "Now for you Alex." He opened his drawer and the teenage boy sat up a little straighter in anticipation. He pulled out an iPod identical to Sabina's new one, except in blue. "This does the exact some function as Sabina's. If you hear anything suspecious - record it."

Alex thought the idea was cool but he would have liked something that was different to what Sabina got. "Thanks." He said, smiling politely and taking the iPod. He scrolled quickly through the songs and noticed all his favourite bands on there.

"Now this," the fat man had a excited glint in his eye as he reached into the drawer for yet another gadget, "is a wallet." He pulled out a small brown, leather wallet. It was rectangular and folded in half so that it could fit into pockets. "It has a small in-built camera right here on the logo." He pointed it out to Alex and showed him how to work it. Opening the wallet he pulled out a small coin. It wasn't one that Alex had seen before, so he assumed that it was native to the island they would be going to.

"Don't mistake this with any other coins you may pick up." Smithers warned. "You can tell which one it is, as it is slightly bigger than the normal coins." He compared it to another one already there. "When you need it, snap it in half, drop it and run - it's a smoke bomb."

Alex nodded, committing this to memory. When the time came for him to use these gadgets he didn't want to have to wait and try to figure out how to use them.

"That's all I have for you!" Smithers stood up from his chair with great difficulty, the other two followed suit. "Good luck, try not to get hurt!" He said as a way of goodbye.

"Thanks." Alex shook his hand then exited the room.

"Thank you." Sabina said gratefully and followed after Alex, wondering how many others he had said that to and then not returned.

* * *

><p>Sabina shuffled uncomfortably in her seat. The hard padding wasn't helping at all. She had already checked out the in-flight movies but she had already seen them all or they didn't look very interesting. So instead she had opted to listening to her iPod and trying to sleep.<p>

They had been on the plane for 12 hours and they were just over half way. They were travelling in economy class because this was, apparently, fitting for the family role they were playing. Alex had been kind enough to offer her the window seat but it wasn't much good when it was night time. He had fallen asleep hours ago but no such luck had come to Sabina. For her it was 11pm but the plane was making it impossible to sleep.

She wasn't sure if it was the constant thrumming of the engine, or the murmer of people, but whatever it was she had an unrelenting headache that meant the sweet release of sleep was unattanable. She needed to get up, her legs were aching, but Alex was boxing her in.

Very slowly she unclasped her buckle and took her headphones out. Alex's legs were spread out under the seat in front of him, she had no idea how she was going to get past. Slowly and quietly she brought up her right leg and took it carefully over the top of his. She shuffled a little, twisting and turning around, trying to get over him without waking him up.

Tripping over something on the ground, she managed to stumble into the aisle with only a small yelp. Looking behind her, she worried that she had woken half of the plane up but nobody stirred.

After using the toilet and having a small walk around the plane her legs felt stretched and a lot more comfortable than before. She stood in the small bathroom, barely big enough for her to stand in let alone spend any time in, and stared at herself in the mirror. The smile that was usually spread across the bottom of her face was missing as she repeated the words 'Sabina Mathews' in her head. She didn't know why she was so upset; this was an adventure she should be excited! But this wasn't the case. She was scared, worried for her life.

The brunette girl turned spy hadn't known Alex long, but she knew that this was part of his life, and he was forced to risk it whenever MI6 want him too. When he had first explained that to her she had found it odd. Why would someone let another control them like that? Until she was manipulated in much the same way and realised just how easily one could succumb to the pressure forced on her.

Taking a deep breath she managed to calm herself. Knowing that there were going to be other people with her to help, making sure that she wouldn't get hurt made her feel better. Sabina left the bathroom and made her way back, sighing when she realised that Alex was still asleep in the same position he was in before.

She attempted to make her way back to her chair but failed miserably when she got tangled in Alex's legs and ended up falling over. He awoke with a jolt and was surprised to find Sabina half sitting on him.

"Sorry!" She moaned. "I didn't mean to wake you! I got out alright but then I tripped..."

"That's ok," he helped her up and sat up straigher, tucking his legs under his chair into a less troublesome position.

"What time is it?" Sabina asked as she took a seat and buckled up.

Alex looked at his watch and answered still in British time. "How long have I been out?"

"A couple of hours..."

"Have you slept yet?" He asked through a yawn, wiping the sleep out of his eyes.

"No."

"Oh. Did you want to get out?" Alex gestured towards the aisle.

Sabina explained how she had already left but was trying to get back in when she fell. When the conversation fell to a stand-still she decided that it was time to try and sleep. Placing a complimentary eye-mask over her face, Sabina rested her head back and let her mind wander to what was lying ahead on the road for her.


	6. Business Not Pleasure

_Hey there, I'm C.R. Richardson, your author for this fic._

_Please don't hate me! I am so so so sorry! I can't believe it's been like three months since I've updated – I actually feel terrible! But I promise I haven't forgotten about this story! I have ideas still for upcoming chapters..._

_This chapter left me somewhat uninspired and I know it's ridiculously short for such a long wait but I hope it's ok? I mean it's really just a bunch of describing there's no talking which is what I'm best at writing so I can only hope that you don't completely give up on me! Just think of the banter to come between Alex and Sabina – boy am I looking forward to writing that! :P_

_Ok, this authors note will soon become longer than the actual story, I'll shut up in a second. I just wanted to thank anyone and everyone who reviewed/story alerted you guys are the reason this story is still going and I hope you continue to enjoy it!_

_Please review and let me know what you think, my review box is forever hungry and would be grateful if you feed it with your thoughts and comments :D_

_I pinky swear the next chapter won't take as long as this one to get up, I've just got a lot of... stuff happening write now,_

_Thanks again,_

_C.R. Richardson xx_

* * *

><p>She woke with a start as she felt a hand on her shoulder.<p>

"What's going on?" Her voice was groggy and slick with sleep. Sabina's first thought was that she couldn't see anything. Her world was a black field of nothing. Her other senses went into overdrive due to the loss of her sight and straight away her ears picked up on the low hum of a motor.

Raising a hand to her face she tugged at the material around her face and pulled off the eye mask that had been restricting her view. Light burst into her vision, making her feel slightly disorrientated. Luckily, she was sitting and didn't have to worry about losing her balance.

It had been Alex who had woken her, the plane had just landed on the small island they were investigating. "Calm down, Sleeping Beauty." Alex spoke as he noticed her confusion.

She rolled her eyes at this comment and looked out of the window. She had been hoping for picturesque scenery, showing the lush landscape she had seen in picutures. However, what she got was the polar opposite. The stark grey concrete runway looked anything but natural and continued for miles. The huge building could be seen only a few meters away, but like the runway it was grey and boring. Just a regular box shaped airport.

The passengers were taken off the plane down a flight of stairs and led towards the doors. To Sabina the security seemed pretty slack. They were allowing the passengers to walk across the tarmac after all. Little did she know that there were high definition cameras littered on the inside and outside of the building, picking up every movement they made.

The cameras were trained on every single passenger aboard the plane that had just arrived. One would take a still shot of each persons face and it would be run through a system. This system would recognise any government worker from any country that was considered a threat. Their system had illegally got hold of pictures of all workers from units like the CIA to MI6. It had already stopped it's fair share of government officials that were most likely sent to spy on Titov.

If the cameras did recognise you, for one security reason or another, you would be pulled aside, and were never seen again. It was as simple as that. The cameras did their job, and then the "security guards" did theirs.

It may be considered harsh, but that's the way life was on this island. If you were a tourist with no secrets than your life was just another party. But if you had a job that sent you to spy on the owner of this island – then you may just find that this was your last vacation destination.

Sabina, Alex, Sue and Jacob all stayed together in a tight pack as they went through security control, which again seemed lacking in the security department. But why would they need it when they had such high security measures on computers?

Little did this family know that behind scenes alarm bells were ringing. Sue and Jacobs' faces had been projected onto a big screen that had recognised the two adults as MI6 workers. The only hesitation in the workers' minds was that they had children. Why would they take their children on a mission with them? To the men it didn't make sense. They stayed staring at the screen in confusion, not knowing whether to pursue the spys or let them go. In the end, the decision was made for them. They had waited too long and the family had passed through security before they had been stopped.

"Well that was easy," Sabina muttered as she jumped into the back of a taxi. She was squashed into the middle, Alex on one side and Sue on the other. The humid conditions and lack of air conditioning made the car trip even less enjoyable than she had expected.

* * *

><p>The taxi pulled up outside of a flash looking hotel. The sheer size of it was enough to hurt Sabina's neck as she craned it to try and see the top. It looked like the roof was almost touching the clouds; there were too many floors to even try counting.<p>

Sue and Jacob didn't waste time on pointless things such as counting the level of floors. Being spies they were used to living in both the best and worst conditions. Their lives often depended on their reactions and so remaining stony faced came easy to them. They acted like rich parents who had seen better than the extremely expensive hotel in front of them.

Following Alex's reaction, Sabina hastly strode into the hotel, head held high pretending that she was a stuck up child. She played her part well, not even bothering to make eye contact with the staff. Why should she? They were working for her. Not the other way around. Or at least that was what her character, Sabina Mathews, would be thinking.

After they were shown their suite, to which Sabina had entered and yelled "wow, this suite is sweet" but got only grimances at, the two teenagers had gone exploring. Sue had innocently suggested the two of them get familiarised with the hotel while she unpacked. Of course this was her way of having a private briefing with Jacob, Alex had assumed.

They ventured down in the elevator and found themselves in the lobby. There was a small game room off to one side, entering the door they noticed it was a video game heaven. It was one arcade game after another with all the classics piled in. Over to one side of the room were a couple of pool tables which had caught Sabina's attention. She wasn't very good at the game, but had dabbled, her father had taught her a few years back.

They left the room and took notice of a casino through another door, however it was restricted to people over 18, which was unfortunately neither of them. Sabina followed Alex outside as they found the pool area.

_Now this,_ she thought, _is a place I can spend time._

The blue water looked so refreashing in this stifling heat, that she wished she could dive in right then. The edges of the pool were littered with lounge chairs for the occupants of the hotel, there was a small bar off to one side, which she assumed opened at night and plenty of palm trees.

She spied two teenage boys who looked to be about her age, sitting on the edge of the pool with their feet dangling in. She only noticed them because as her eyes scanned the area she could see theirs on her. As they stared at her slim figure a small smile quirked at the corner of her lips. Sabina kept sending the boys flirty looks, she couldn't help it if there were two very attractive people gawking at her.

Alex seemed to have noticed the silent interaction going on between the only three other people by the pool and rolled his eyes. When he realised that Sabina was still sending suggestive smiles to the boys he cleared his throat, "just remember, we're here for business not pleasure." He warned before walking away.

She felt like a child who had been caught with their hand in the cookie jar. Following after Alex they re-entered the lobby. His long legs meant that she had to jog to reach him. "Last time I checked we were here on a family holiday, _Brother_," she said his title with heavy sarcasm, "so I can flirt with whoever I want to."

The teenage spy had stopped in the middle of the lobby and turned to face his 'sister'. "No, you can't. We're not here to have fun."

"But I suppose if there was a really hot girl then it would be fine for you to flirt with her?" Sabina tried to point out some double standards that he was bound to have.

He shook his head in disbelief and turned away from her. "No, I would never."

Sabina just raised her eyebrows, not believing a word he said and watched him walk towards the elevator. He hit the call button, but didn't have to wait long for the doors to ping open. "You coming?" He asked her as he gestured at the empty metal box.

She hesitated before shaking her head. She tried to think of the one thing she could say that would annoy him the most, a small smile touched her lips as she thought of it. "I think I'll go spend some time by the pool," she dropped him a wink, hoping he would pick up the not so subtle meaning behind it.

The doors closed on him before he could stop gaping at the girl and think of a witty come back. Cursing himself inwardly, he pushed the button that would take him back to their suite.

Sabina felt triumphant as the doors to the elevators closed and the sign told her it was rising to her floor. But she knew that Alex was right and that they were there for business, which meant that getting distracted by a boy wasn't the best option.

So instead of sunbathing pool with cute boys, she made her way to the games room and set up a pool table like a good girl.


	7. You Shouldn't Even Be Here

_Hey there, I'm C.R. Richardson your author for this fic :)_

_So, it's been like another two months and I was all like pfft I'll have this chapter up days after the previous one... that clearly didn't happen sorry!_

_This is sort of just a filler, I'm really sorry it's so short! Hope you like it anyway :)_

_Drop me a review and tell me what you think,_

_C.R. Richardson xx_

* * *

><p>Sabina was basking in the sun. She decided that since she was supposed to be on holiday she was at least going to enjoy it. She lay spread out on one of the hotel's many loungers, enjoying the warming glow of the morning sun. Her huge sunglasses covered her brown eyes from the blazing sun while her hair was tied back in a loose bun.<p>

Alex was lounging beside her with a magazine in his hand. Sabina was the only person who could see that inside of the magazine was a copy of the file of the case they were meant to be working on.

She didn't notice when he caught something out of the corner of his eye. She didn't notice that it was Sue gesturing for him and she didn't notice the small nod he gave in return.

"Um, I'm going to get a drink, want anything?" He asked standing up from the lounger.

"No" She shook her head.

Alex got up and walked towards the door where he had seen Sue Mathews moments before. He glanced behind him at Sabina quickly before walking into the lobby of the hotel. Scanning the room he spotted his 'Mothers' red dress disappear into an elevator.

He jumped into the elevator before the doors snapped shut. "Alex, Sausage!" Sue's voice rang out.

Even though they were alone in the elevator she still insisted that they went along with the lie. "Mum." Alex nodded in acknowledgment.

"You're Father and I are going out soon. Will you and Sabina be ok? Here? At the hotel?" She acted sweet and motherly toward him.

Alex could tell that she was hinting at the two of them to not leave the hotel. "Of course. We'll me fine, Mum."

The ding of the elevators sounded before the doors opened. Alex followed Sue down the corridor to their room.

"Where are you going?" Alex asked as soon as he was sure the door to their hotel room was closed.

And with just the closing of a door the facade was over. "To scope out the island."

"You're sure you don't want me to come?"

Jacob kept quiet, packing gadgets into two non-descript backpacks. "I know that Mr Blunt holds you in high regard, but it is not our job to baby sit you. You and Sabina will stay here." She answered.

* * *

><p>When a dark shadow crossed in front of her sun she opened her eyes to see Alex. Sabina stared at him. "What's wrong?"<p>

Alex just shook his head and started walking away from her.

"Hey! What's your problem?"

"You. You're my problem! You shouldn't even be here!" Alex exploded.

"What do you mean?" She asked surprised at his sudden outburst.

"You're not a spy, this isn't your life." He gestured wildly as he paced along the pool side, getting more agitated.

Sabina stood up and followed after him, letting him get everything off his chest. "You think I wanted this?" She pulled her huge sunglasses off her face.

"Well, I didn't see you turning down the opportunity." He glared down at her.

"I didn't have much of a choice!"

He shook his head, "You could've said no."

Sabina had no response. She hadn't told Alex why she agreed to go on this mission, nor did she plan on telling him. Instead she just squinted up at the glaring sun behind his head.

He let out a deep breathing, letting his shoulders sag. "I worry about you, Sabina." Alex said softly.

"Well, don't." Sabina said harshly, still fuming from their argument. She turned away from him and walked into the hotel. As she passed her lounge chair she grabbed the towel that had been drapped over it and wrapped it around her body.

Alex watched her go into the hotel with grim satisfaction. As soon as he saw her pass through the door he breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn't sure if she would take the bait. He hadn't wanted to argue with her but could think of no other way to get her to stay at the hotel while he followed his 'parents'.


End file.
